Brighton come back from the dead to reach FA Cup semi-final with penalty shootout win over Millwall

If you're excited about who Brighton might play in the semi, wander over to Vicki Hodges' liveblog for the draw. 

VAR controversy (again), a lot of energy and heaps of work. This wasn't a classic but as Lewis Dunk has just said, Brighton showed their character here today.

BRIGHTON ARE IN THE SEMI FINAL! The penalty is booted over the bar by Cooper and Brighton have completed the comeback. 

Dunk now. A defender vs goalkeeper. Here he comes. Bottom left! Goalkeeper dives the wrong way, Brighton have the lead. Huge kick next.

Morison steps up now. He won't let them down will he? Here he comes... what a goal. Top corner, perfectly placed in the top right. 

Stephens steps up... bottom left low and Martin goes the right way! There's too much power and he can't stop it.

It's back level! Romeo hits his shot as though aiming for top right but doesn't connect properly and Ryan can save it with his feet. Poor technique there.

Brilliant penalty by Propper. The goalkeeper isn't anywhere near close. Romeo up next for Millwall.

Hoof. Smashed bottom corner. Millwall still in charge. Big kick coming up next for Brighton.

March steps up, the crowd try to put him off and he hits a perfect shot top right. Superb.

Tunnicliffe powers his shot down the middle, the goalkeeper dives and Millwall have advantage again. 

Locadia fires low into the bottom left corner to make it 1-1. Tunnicliffe steps up next.

Millwall score their first penalty. Ryan guesses the right way but it's placed well with power.

The first penalty is Murray, Mr Reliable... he steps up and places it onto the bar! Top corner but over the edge. Advantage Millwall!

It's penalties! The hardest thing to liveblog in the world. Good luck to the takers and to me for typing it all up somehow.

Oh god. Brighton have scored but it's ruled out for offside. The linesman(woman) puts her flag up and the goal is disallowed... that should have been it. If only the technology existed to assist the referee.

Ferguson is shown a red for a stupid foul! Harris is furious. He trips Dunk and then as Dunk tries to take the kick quickly rakes his studs down the back of Dunk's achilles. What was he thinking? A ridiculous thing to do!

Brighton still with all the attacking play, Millwall in all out defence mode, waiting for penalties. Martin makes another decent save form a long range shot.

Millwall staying back in a 5-4-1, booting the ball away, Brighton moving the ball around like it's a training game of attack vs defence. 

Here comes the long throw from Leonard! He goes short. Hmm. Seems like a bit of a waste considering Millwall's whole thing is winning battles in the box. 

Izquierdo darts about into space by the Millwall box, some clever passing puts him ins behind and then a drilled cross comes in... Locadia has a tap in! And he's slipped! 

Romeo seems like the only, or one of the only Millwall players who still has running left in him. He's on the ball now wide right and crosses but Brighton have bodies there to clear.

Right then. Here we go. Millwall look done, Brighton need to find a way to break them down.

How has this chap up here gotten there? Crazy chaps. 

Brighton have men over, March finds space on the right and shoots low to the bottom corner trying to catch out the goalkeeper. Corner. 

It's crossed in, the goalie claws it out the air and a defender hoofs away.

All Brighton. Millwall are defending really deep and look tired - no wonder. Brighton might start to find space and have more time to pick passes now, Millwall just clearing their lines without anyone up top to hold on.

HUGE CHANCE MILLWALL. And it's wasted. The ball is hooked into the area, knocked down, Morrison passes and Ryan has to dive to his left and save a low shot from the edge of the area. Romeo follows up and thinks he's got the winner but punts his volley miles over the bar and presumably out the stadium.

Izquierdo tries a shot from distance but Martin manages to hold it and saves well. Brighton look like a different team now and I think that's mostly because Millwall don't have it left in them to chase them everywhere. They're a little more subdued now.

Brighton fans are singing 'Solly March' to the tune of Daddy Cool. Such a weird song, how is it that it's taken up a new life as a football song? Is a nice hook. But if it's about the hook, surely ABBA should have a heap of songs being sung by supporters. I think the key is not having a break between lines of lyrics. They don't know what to do in the pauses.

We're back! 

Neil Harris gives his keeper a big hug, various staff do similar. He needs to get focused now, there are 30 minutes of added time to come. Surely Millwall's energy is gone by now, they've been super human all the way through this.

Well. I did not see that coming. A semi-final place slips through Millwall's fingers - and literally the goalkeepers. Well, not literally. You know what I mean.

BRIGHTON HAVE DONE IT! IT'S A GOALKEEPER HOWLER! The free-kick is sent long to the top corner - does March mean it? - but the goalkeeper loses the flight of the ball and it comes off the inside of his gloves and drops into the net! Oh poor Martin, he'll be devastated.

Brighton have a free-kick wide right, Millwall hate it but it's a foul. Can Brighton do it? The goalkeeper asks to go up, is told no... then goes up after all. March stands over the kick.

Great catch from the goalkeeper. A high ball into the box is claimed to relieve the pressure for a few seconds. But not Izquierdo runs into space on the left, he's in! SHOOOOOOTS and saved. He should have crossed that.

Brighton have all the momentum now. Millwall hanging on with constant attacks coming their way.

BRIGHTON PULL ONE BACK! Oooooohhhh we're in for an exciting finish! March is superb on the right wing, dribbles past his man and and plays the pass low to Locadia inside the box. Locadia, controls spins and launches a volley off his laces past the goalkeeper. Game on!

There's the second goal, the one which knocks Brighton out of this competition. 

Millwall absolutely deserve this win. Brighton haven't enjoyed themselves at all, absolutely no time on the ball, little chance of winning the 50/50s. It's a very different sort of football to the Premier League.

Oh my word, Millwall are 2-0 up! It's all about hard running, effort, determination and battling. A shot from distance is blocked, Wallace manages to easily go past the left midfielder and left back, crosses low inside the box and sets up O'Brien for a tap-in! 

Brighton have been outfought here.

Millwall, and especially Gregory, are still running about this pitch like when you set a dog off the lead at the beach. How does he still have energy to chase the ball 40 yards just to force a clearance? It's some shift.

Brighton put a ball into the box and the goalkeeper wipes out his own player with a punch. 

Brighton come forward and go more direct, hitting balls to opposite wings to stretch the play. Izquierdo is on and already made a difference on the left with his pace, Brighton win a corner after Murray sets up a shot from range which is deflected behind.

The referee spots a foul on the goalkeeper in the box.

Murray was blocked off the ball for that corner, meaning he couldn't track the run of Pearce. Pretty clever if you can get away with it! Another set piece goal for Millwall.

March is fouled by Gregory on the left of the box, Brighton have a chance to swing the ball in straight after conceding. The cross is good, curling away and BERNARDO HAS A FREE HEADER! He's missed! 

Oh my god. The replay of that goal is ridiculous... Murray is rugby tackled to the floor. It's as clear a foul as you'll ever see!

MILLWALL HAVE THE LEAD! 

A corner. It's floated to the back post, Pearce charges and times his run perfectly, Brighton have four players on the line and can't stop it. Millwall's pressure pays off. 

Cooper climbs all over Dunk at the back post and dives onto the cross to head at goal. Wide of the post from about six yards. Decent battle between defender and defender there. 

March on, Jahanbakhsh off. Montoya dives into a tackle and wins a yellow card... the referee seems awfully quick to penalise the away team here.

Best move of the game. Finally Millwall plays some one-twos and move up the pitch, pulling defenders out of position and opening up a chance for Williams to shoot. It's almost as if keeping the ball on the ground and using space and passing works better than humping it up the pitch and chasing like they're playing rugby. 

Brighton are being pressed really high up the pitch and any tiny mistake is latched onto instantly.. and MILLWALL ARE IN! Gregory is offside but the flag stays down, he tries to go round the goalie and wins a corner. 

So many chipped forward passes. Nobody has control of this game. Bernardo goes flying up the left wing, gets the cross in and Romeo slides in at 80 knots to block, wiping him out. Inexplicably the referee doesn't then pull play back for a free-kick. 

And now Millwall are in! Great chance! Gregory runs down the left, plays in Wallace on the underlap and he only has Ryan to beat! The goalkeeper comes off his line, spreads his body out and blocks at the near post. Great save.

ACTION! Brighton get into the final third, a shot is fired low to the corner and the goalkeeper parries! Knockaert is outmuscled trying to get onto the loose ball in the box. Kayal is then knocked over chasing a ball into the corner but doesn't get the free-kick he clearly should.

Millwall win a free-kick, launch it into the box, it's cleared. Urghhgghhg. So scrappy. The rain is pouring down. It looks pretty horrible.  

The weather's turned now and a heap of rain... or is that hailstones? It might even be snow... no it's hail.

Weather chat: brought to you by Millwall 0 Brighton 0.

A long ball from the goalkeeper, horrible communication between centre-back and opposite goalkeeper and Brighton have just got away with some terrible defending! Millwall unlucky not to gain the full benefit from the move. 

Still lots of 50/50 battles going on, lots of strength and aggression on show.

Early attack from Brighton this half. Kayal fires a ball into the box but the goalkeeper can collect low and pick it up.

We're back!

Brighton players out early, at least 90 seconds before Millwall and apparently Millwall had to be firmly asked to make their way onto the pitch. I seem to remember a similar thing happened against Everton.

Jenas says it doesn't make a difference at all.

Well, 0-0 is absolutely fair. It's not the best game of football you'll ever see and actually you'd get pretty similar standard at various levels of the sport. League Two, for example.

Scrappy. Both teams in it though.

Oooohhhh penalty controversy. There's a bit of a tussle in the area as Duffy is dragged and pulled around trying to win a header from a corner. England got about 20 penalties in the World Cup for something similar.

Duffy complains about it, Dunk is being held by the shirt, Dunk has a hold of a shirt... it's impossible for a ref really. They're all at it.

Great tackle in the middle of the pitch from Stephens. He reads the Millwall attack through the centre perfectly and steps in to break it up.

Knockaert cuts inside onto this left foot and aims for the top corner. A flying slide tackle block puts him off a bit but the ball pings off into the crowd anyway.

This is basically a Championship game. Long passes, chase the second ball, compete and get stuck in, clear lines and run at pace down the wings.  Just needs a bit of quality and composure to settle things down.  

Millwall hacking the ball away, Brighton clearing, neither team can keep the ball in the final third. This one should open up at about 75 minutes because both teams will tire a lot. Little mistakes might creep in. 

Brighton have the ball wide right, Knockaert hits a long diagonal to the box and Kayal is there to head at goal. It's an easy save for Martin.

Millwall corner to the near post, headed at goal and pushes away by the goalkeeper. Millwall keep chipping the ball into the box but Brighton are well built to deal with it and then clear into the channel... where nobody is waiting to receive.

Still not much in the way of chances. Brighton doing OK, Millwall just charging around everywhere at 100mph.

Brighton corner, the goalkeeper punches, Dunk keeps it alive, Millwall desperately try to break but can't, players drop and chase and scurry to win the ball back then launch it up the pitch. Brighton then give it away... and win it back, then hit it long and lose it again. 

Really scrappy, low quality. The kind of game usually described as 'old fashioned'.

The BBC director is cutting to lots of shots of the crowd now, which might help you decode exactly how pulsating the football is on the pitch.

Hughton isn't impressed with what he's seeing but Brighton are definitely moving the ball around a lot better than the start of the match. Millwall too are passing well. It's a fairly even match.

 I didn't realise Millwall were aligned with Hearts. Perhaps this is just one person's take on it. It could also genuinely be a cape that Craig Levein wears.

Romeo goes on a run, the ball drops just outside the area for a shot! Oocha. A rocket flies off a Brighton defender and deflects away.

Brighton getting more on the ball now. They've survived the dangerous opening section of the game! Now is time to push forward a bit.

Gregory is charging around chasing through-balls and trying to win tackles near the Brighton box. Dunk uses a bit of experience to draw the foul and win possession. 

Brighton move up the pitch and win their own free-kick wide left. Two players stand over it... but the first man can head away and the second ball is chipped straight to the goalkeeper.

DING DING DING Jermaine Jenas wins the first FA Cup cliche award of the day by saying that Millwall are in fact the ones who look like a Premier League team at this stage. I'd imagine that Brighton have been told to expect an onslaught early in the match, try to calm things and quieten the crowd then take the game to them after the opening 15 minutes or so. 

Millwall on the attack from the start but Brighton clear their lines and Murray works hard to hold the ball up. Quite an energetic opening couple of minutes, Millwall are fired up and ready to go.

Millwall get the game started! Let's see if the Den lives up to its reputation.

VAR was centre stage in Man City's win over Swansea yesterday - if it had been used there's a good chance Swansea would have won. Both teams will hope the referees get things right this afternoon.

Excitement's there, we know what it means to the club and this group of players, the FA Cup semi-final is a competition an awful lot of players never get the opportunity to get there. We'll do everything we can.

We're used to it, we played in the Championship for many years and have been here so we know what the atmosphere is. We'll treat it no differently to how we did at Crystal Palace, there are lesser sides than Millwall who have beaten us and have beaten bigger clubs. We'll be prepared.

"Since we've got a proper striker in the studio, one who's actually won the FA Cup" says Lineker, before throwing to Teddy Sheringham. It's a solid joke but how much longer can Lineker keep this patter going? Needs something fresh next time to keep it funny.

The clouds have mostly cleared up, there's a bit of sun and it's not too hot or cold. What I'm saying is, this is perfect Sunday League/FA Cup battle weather.

Something else that I absolutely love is that there's a lion just sitting here in this press conference. Think how serious football is. Then look at the lion.

Millwall

Brighton

Hello! Can you feel it? The magic in the air? It's all spilling out of the FA Cup, a trophy full of goals, upsets and sparkling football wizardry. Today the ones wearing capes and dancing to The Final Countdown are Millwall and Brighton! Who will have the greatest illusions? (Tricks are something [people] do for money, Michael).

One of these two teams is going to be in the semi-final of the FA Cup, battling it out at Wembley for a place in the final... at Wembley. What a world. Could it be the working man's Millwall? Or the sunny vibes of liberal Brighton? They have lots of hills there you know. And a beach!

Millwall have already beaten Premier League opposition to reach this stage but as part of a preview, I think this might be a step too far. Brighton won't underestimate them and what with the prize on offer being as large as it is, might raise their game. Millwall's game is about frustrating and countering, which suits a team slack in possession like Everton were but Brighton are a similarly tough, hardworking group of players. This should be less of a Championship vs Premier League match and more of a 'two teams battling it out'. It should be great.

Team news will be with us soon so stick around and stay here for live updates and analysis all through the match.